What's on top?

Welcome to the 75 new subscribers who've signed up since last month's newsletter. This month's edition includes some great new resources on advocacy evaluation, communication, gender and group dynamics. I hope you find our monthly newsletter useful, and invite you to contribute whenever you create or discover a great resource to empower activists and organisers.

The Change Agency website provides three ways to find what you're looking for among our 3000+ resources. The search function and nav bars provide quick access to pages dedicated to strategy, case studies, book reviews, upcoming workshops and other topics. Alternatively, you can build your own toolkit by selecting one or more from our 87 tagged categroeis and nominating the type/s of resources you're looking for. If you can't find what you're looking for, drop us a line.

Community Organising Fellowship 2016

Interest is growing for next year's Fellowship. This year's cohort will soon gather for their third residential workshop. You can read profiles of Fellowship graduates on our homepage to see how folks are applying their organising skills and tools. Drop us a line if you intend to apply or seek further details about this structured nine-month program. The application form is available here and applications are invited from 1 July through to 31 August. Our sliding scale for program fees means that cost is not an obstacle, and remote, self-funded and grassroots organisers can participate, along with well-resourced NGOs.

Since the mid 1990s, Randy Stoecker has created and shared the awesome Comm-Org list-serve. At a time when e-groups were a new thing and (in Australia, at least), sharing resources about community organising was radical pioneering work, Randy collated, curated and disseminated a growing collection of case studies, details of workshops and conferences, and research papers written by and for organisers. Comm-Org has been an …

In last month's enews we asked about your experiences of gender in the environment movement. We received some great responses including personal stories, links to websites and resources. Here are some of our favourites: The Everyday Sexism Project aims to shine light on this by documenting instances of sexism experienced by women and men on a day-to-day basis. These might be serious …

Great online resources

Enews subscribers regularly share with us the websites and online resources they’re developing, discovering and learning from in their community organising. Enjoy this month’s batch and be sure to drop us a line to suggest links for the next enews.

This month’s New Tactics conversation seeks to uncover the tools, tactics and resources used by individuals and organisations to empower women to overcome the obstacles preventing them from political equity and equality. The conversation has four threads: Introduction to women's political participation; obstacles to political participation; political parties and electoral systems; and training and empowerment.

In value terms, advocacy and campaigning is an iceberg: most of the impact may be submerged, hard to see. And the temptation to focus only on the part that is visible risks creating a radically false picture that generates misleading information and so encourages poor decision making. How, then, can social change organisations weigh the benefits of advocacy and campaigning? The paper looks …

A resource of some of the most creative, innovative, and effective nonprofit digital campaigns we’ve seen recently. Browse the categories below to learn more about the campaigns: their missions, methods, and the impact they’ve made.

In response to the growing interest of grant-makers and network builders, this casebook profiles nine evaluations that address key questions about network effectiveness while expanding what is known about assessment approaches that fit with how networks develop and function

There are many different ways to win the Battle of the Story whether it’s by re-framing the issue, amplifying previously unheard voices, or offering new solutions. The story-based strategy approach offers a flexible methodology for campaign or community stakeholders to encapsulate their common experience and vision into a powerful, shared narrative.

Upcoming learning opportunities and events

Calling all word nerds! Anat Shenker-Osorio is a world recognised communications expert, whose work across American civil society has improved organisations’ public communication on issues as diverse as tax, immigration, prison reform, work and worker’s rights and much more – often shifting the public narrative on those issues. The intense program: kicks off with a residential weekend retreat from 14 to 16 August 2015, …

Join organisers from across civil society in communities around Australia to share experiences, build skills and connect to each other. Hosted by the Centre for Australian Progress in partnership with environment, union, consumer and faith organisations and organisers and are excited to announce that Hahrie Han, author of How Organisations Develop Activists will speak via video link. Details and registration here >

FWD is Australia’s premier conference run by and for digital campaigners. We will bring together 250+ campaigners to share experiences and skills, explore the latest trends, and develop joint projects. Register here >

The art and skill of creative facilitation and learning 'Dynamic Groups, Dynamic Learning': Creative Facilitation, Group Leadership and Teacher Training residential intensive with Robin Clayfield. 15th to 20th November at Crystal Waters Permaculture Eco Village South East Queensland. Celebrating over 25 years of using and sharing creative, interactive group skills, learning methods and processes. Full details and registration here >

Upcoming training opportunities on grant writing, successful boards, effective meetings, governance, media, online essentials, campaigns that sizzle, and being an effective spokesperson. Our Community has developed a suite of affordable, practical training to help community sector staff, volunteers and supporters keep abreast of their responsibilities and learn how to lift their organisation from ordinary to extraordinary All training is delivered by …